People United Means Action

Sec of State Clinton pictured with a representative of Afghanistan's women's rights groups, in Bonn recently. Click on image for more information.

From the Ryan Lizza article in the New Yorker that is hurtling around the internet today:

“One Cabinet official made it clear that she did not share the President’s growing commitment to coupon-clipping: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She rejected the White House’s budget for her department, and wrote the President a six-page letter detailing her complaints. Some in the White House saw the long letter as a weapon, something that could be leaked if Clinton didn’t get her way. “At the proposed funding levels,” Clinton wrote, “we will not have the capacity to deliver either the full level of civilian staffing or the foreign assistance programs that underlie the civilian-military strategy you outlined for Afghanistan; nor the transition from U.S. Military to civilian programming in Iraq; nor the expanded assistance that is central to our Pakistan strategy.” She went on, “I want to emphasize that I fully understand the economic realities within which this budget is being constructed, and I share your commitment to fiscal responsibility. But I am deeply concerned about these funding levels.”

The letter contained indications of a real relationship between the former rivals. “You and I often speak about the need to restore the capacity of civilian agencies,” Clinton noted. But the general tone was stern and businesslike. It ended with an urgent plea for Obama to intervene on her behalf. “There is little room for progress unless you provide guidance that you are open to an increase in overall funding levels,” she wrote. Obama did indeed fight for some additional money for Clinton.”

Ha Ha Ha. Lizza really needs to go back to reading comprehension school. When Clinton writes, “You and I often speak about the need to restore the capacity of civilian agencies,” she didn’t mean they speak to EACH OTHER, just that they both speak about it. Anyone who doesn’t hear a threatening note of independence and an obvious unwillingness to show humility to the POTUS in Hillary’s words is a moron.

But Lizza’s tone deafness notwithstanding, the article is a real barn burner. Everyone - Is – Talking – About - It.

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In support of wikipedia and other websites blacking themselves out today to protest the SOPA and PIP legislation, pumapac’s welcome page is black today. Enter your zip code to contact your reps and tell them to back off on corpogovernmental control of the internet. I for one do not admire China’s approach to internet policing.

Learn more about SOPA and PIP here and here.

And LOLZ but former senator Chris Dodd, currently a Hollywood lobbyist natch, is a big pusher of SOPA. He calls today’s blackout by wikipedia and others an “abuse of power.” The irony — it stings!

And get in touch with your inner American citizen today.

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Margaret Thatcher in 1986, seven years into her 12 year stint as Prime Minister. (photo: Sven Nackstrand/ Agence France)

Was reading this morning in the NYT a preview of the new movie about Margaret Thatcher starring Meryl Streep. Looks like Ms Streep will have to find room on her Oscar shelf for one more statue if the buzz about her performance is true. But what struck me most about the interview with Streep and the director, Phyllida Lloyd (the screenwriter is Abi Morgan, making this a very woman-created film, yay!), was the end:

“Ms. Lloyd said: “So did Margaret Thatcher [hated to be criticized]. But that’s understandable. She couldn’t show weakness. Imagine what the men would have said.” She added: “In parts of England now it’s a transgression even to consider her as a human being. She’s that monster woman, the she-devil. For me the point of the film was to find the human side.” And though hardly a Tory, she said she vividly recalled the moment when Mrs. Thatcher came to power. “Just as I remember not voting for her, I remember sitting in my room at university when the radio announced that she had been asked to form a government, and I went ‘Yes!’ It felt like one for our team.”

Ms. Streep nodded and said: “I did the same thing. We all thought if it can happen in England, class bound, socially rigid, homophobic — if they can elect a female leader over there, then it’s just seconds away in America.”

Oops! It’s been 32 YEARS since Thatcher rose to the office of Prime Minister in England. That’s not a few seconds ago Meryl; it’s actually One BILLION seconds ago, literally (36,556,926 x 32 = 1,009,821,632). We have been waiting a billion seconds because women like you and Ms Lloyd (and Ms Fey and Ms Moore) have not been able to escape the mindless misogyny of  male-dominated liberal and progressive orthodoxy. The mind of the liberal man will always reach first for misogynistic hatred as a weapon against women with whom they disagree and who seem to have a shot at actually attaining power. Why? Because misogyny in our culture is as “natural” and acceptable as slut-shaming, worshipping Mad Men, and loathing Sarah Palin. Why? Because it WORKS.

Ms Lloyd points out that “In parts of England now it’s a transgression even to consider her [Thatcher] as a human being. She’s that monster woman, the she-devil.” Hmmm, sound familiar? (Sarah Palin is not a woman, but a cunt. Hillary Clinton is not a woman, but a big ole’ bitchety bitch. Michelle Bachmann is not a woman, but a crazed chipmunk. Michelle Obama is not a woman but a rabid gorilla (yep racism is the second weapon men will reach for against women with whom they disagree) etc etc etc)

I don’t know why it’s so hard for women to understand this simple concept. If you want a woman president (or senator or mayor or congresswoman) you have to VOTE for the darn women who are actually running for office. You have to give them money if you can, and volunteer time and support if you can. Here’s the hard part: You have to vote for women even if they are bitches, whores, nutjobs, monsters, lunatics, morons, retards, hysterical backstabbers, relentlessly ambitious soulless Stepford wife robots, and cunts. Because to the dudes who run the media and the world, that’s what they ALWAYS are.

UPDATE: I missed Uppity’s post yesterday about the 2 new scholarly studies that prove sexism is what doomed Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign. As Uppity says, duh! But it IS helpful that these studies were done in the first place AND that they are being reported on in mainstream media outlets. And yes, Tweety “Tingles” Matthews was the WORST.

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Photo: Reuters

The attack was captured on video. Warning: it is VERY disturbing.

From the Atlantic:
“there is something especially barbaric about this photo. The taboo of violence against unarmed women is unusually strong in the Arab world. But to watch three soldiers beat a defenseless woman with batons, their fists, and for one extraordinarily cruel soldier with his boot, is not even the most provocative part. For these men to pull her black abaya above her head and expose her midriff and chest is, for Egypt, a profound and sexually charged humiliation.”

The author makes several illegitimate attempts to give the soldiers the benefit of the doubt, and his insistence that “the taboo of violence against unarmed women is unusually strong in the Arab world” rings pretty fucking hollow when describing a culture that regularly sexually assaults, honor kills, and gang rapes innocent unarmed women every god damned day.

(h/t Texas Tigress and Miq2xu)

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Sorry for the hiatus — lots of stuff going on.

Here’s a speech from our Secretary of State that we will be quoting for years. Watch/listen to her and then tell me if you can even IMAGINE obama giving this speech EVER. Even after he leaves office. (h/t invalid response). Click the link below to watch speech live.

Hillary Gay Rights are Human Rights

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Clyde, Bonnnie’s sister, in my way.

It’s time for an Open Thread, at least. Thoughts on Penn State, OWS, the Super Committee, or your damn cats welcome.

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“Security Statement: #Occuoy Baltimore
Sexual abuse and assault are dehumanizing acts for the survivor as well as the abuser . . . Though we do not encourage involvement of the police in our community, the survivor has every right, and the support of Occupy Baltimore, to report the abuse to the appropriate law enforcement . . . Occupy Baltimore will also work to supply the abuser with counseling resources to deal with their issues.”
–Via miq at The Crawdad Hole.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Men on the right view women as private property. Men on the left think women are public property.”
– Toonces, commenting at Reclusive Leftist. 

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Conspiracy theories almost always leave me cold. Shakespeare’s works were actually written by some aristocrat dude? Srsly, who cares?? Does a Hamlet by any other name not sound as sweet? Apollo moon landings faked? Yawwwn. If NASA invented the images in order to excite and inspire a generation of American kids to compete scientifically with Commie kids (and to persuade Congress to fork over billions for rockets), well Good for Them!

Most conspiracy theories spring up to offer reassuring handholds to frightened and vulnerable people who are living through an overwhelming river of confusing and terrifying events. Like September 11th. Or the global economic meltdown. Or for the seriously isolated and vulnerable, the election of a guy to be president who had a really really thin resume. No, the Secret Society of Marxist Cannibal Muslims did not conspire to put obama in the White House. The boring old DNC did it.

Conspiracy theories can usually be deflated and debunked by asking who would benefit if the theory were actually true. If the answer is no one, well it’s probably a kooky conspiracy theory. If the answer is The Secret Cabal of Super Rich Dudes Who Rule the World, well it’s probably hogwash too. I mean, if the SCOSRDWRTW has actually been in charge since the get go, then that means Life As We Know It is not really different from Life As It Actually Is. I’d rather learn how to knit, or surf, than spend time obsessing about that.

On the other hand, once in a great while some kooky, whacked-out, totally tinfoil typa theory will be put forth by some clown on the internet (what? where else would a conspiracy theory come from?) that makes me sit up, pay attention, and start fiddling the old antennae. Such as:

“I still believe that OWS is astroturf – not all the members but the leadership. The goal is to dissipate progressive energies and focus their anger on the GOP. They’re not supporting him [obama], but they aren’t opposing him either. And next year they’ll be voting for him because “The Republicans are worse!“™

Damn, but that makes perfect sense to me.

Also, seriously, the fricken dudes at these rallies Can’t. Stop. Sexually Assaulting. Women.

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Updating to add YTTIK’s comment from downstairs because it sums it all up for me:

“They now have Occupy condoms. And the Hot Chicks of Occupy.

If this movement were not a dude-bro movement there would be signs about how 70% of the poor who live on less then a dollar a day are women, about how women only own 1% of the world’s property, how women, even in the US, only earn 78 cents on the dollar, if they are paid at all. How can you have a movement for economic justice and not focus on the economic injustice women have been experiencing for centuries?

The irony of those condoms really gets to me. “…lots of people out there are tired of feeling screwed. Occupy Condoms say it all in a neat little package while affording young protestors the protection they need to stay safe in the passionate frenzy that is social protest.”

We won’t be screwed! We will come first! Women however, shall go right on being screwed both literally and figuratively.”

Apparently the whole sleeping peacefully in public to create a ruckus and protest the culture of consumption and greed is something only boys are allowed to do:

“A lot of fantastic media has been created about the “Occupy” movement. I was watching one video in particular and commented to a friend, “Wow, seeing all those super smart hot chicks at the protest makes me want to be there.” He replied, “Hmmm… Yeah, let’s go with that.”

We instantly went to Tumblr and made hotchicksofoccupywallstreet.tumblr.com. Our original ideas were admittedly sophomoric: Pics of hot chicks being all protesty, videos of hot chicks beating drums in slow-mo, etc. But when we arrived at Zuccotti Park in New York City, it evolved into something more.

There was a vibrant energy in the air, a warmth of community and family, and the voices we heard were so hopeful and passionate. Pretty faces were making signs, giving speeches, organizing crowds, handing out food, singing, dancing, debating, hugging and marching.

It made me want to pack my bags and pitch a tent on Wall Street. And it’s in the light that we created this video.

And we hope it makes you want to be there too.”

Nothing objectifying or condescending to see here, move along! And make me a sandwich!

Sheesh, kids today. They have no sense of irony! In a blindly positive post, Bethany O’Grady of Gothamist, writes:

“Campers are Safe Under the Strong Arm of the Law:
You’re always safe at Camp Zuccotti, where the NYPD does impromptu walk-throughs at all hours of the night. At 11:25 p.m., a man was escorted from the site by NYPD after witnesses reported seeing him “doing a line of coke”. Others said the man had been harassing women for the duration of his stay at Zuccotti Park and was in no way affiliated with the movement.”

Wait, what? I thought the NYPD was a buncha brutal thugs? Oh, maybe only when they stop you from grabbing ass?

Apparently many members of the activist African American community in and around NYC aren’t very impressed with Boy Scout Camp, I mean OWS, either:

“There are many white men there are very domineering, controlling, demeaning, sarcastic, condescending and do not make black women feel safe, welcome, empowered, appreciated or protected. They have no regard for black people or women.

Women are being molested in the park and there is no real viable system in place to handle it without the need for police intervention. There are white supremacists groups running around there.” (h/t Lola at Large)

And finally, what do you think about the Fifth of November “Bank Transfer Day” being promoted by OWS? Intriguing . . .

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